‎“Arab media sources have, of their own ‎volition, awarded Israeli citizenship to ‎several Palestinian artists, [thereby] ‎stripping them of their national identity. ‎Numerous internet sites rushed to report ‎the details of the news item, which had ‎been translated from the Israeli ‎newspaper Yediot Aharonot and ‎published in a Lebanese magazine.‎
The news was tantamount to a scandal for ‎MBC, the channel that broadcasts the ‎talent show ‘Arab Idol,’ because [it implies ‎that] the channel will allow Israelis to ‎participate in the show’s next season. The ‎magazine referred to Palestinian artists ‎Manal Musa ‎ and Haitham Khalaileh as ‎‎‘Israeli artists,’ and published a news item ‎on its website entitled ‘For the first time: ‎Two Israeli competitors participate in Arab ‎Idol.’ However, within a few hours, the ‎item was removed from the magazine’s ‎website. ‎
Social network activists criticized the ‎publication of the item by the prominent ‎Arab magazine. One responded: ‘Had the ‎magazine taken the trouble to search for ‎Manal Musa and Haitham Khalaileh on ‎Google, they would have found hundreds ‎of patriotic Palestinian songs by both ‎artists, who had Israeli identity cards and ‎passports forced on them because they ‎come from within the Green Line’…‎
There were reports that the State of ‎Palestine had granted Manal and Haitham ‎Palestinian citizenship to facilitate their ‎passage [from place to place], and ‎apparently, they have moved from within ‎the Green Line to Ramallah… ‎
In the past, Manal Musa had expressed ‎her wish to participate in the program’s ‎second season [which took place] last ‎year, and [recalled] that the director of ‎MBC had been impressed with her voice ‎when she sang for him in Amman… but ‎had said he could not agree to her ‎participation because she held an Israeli ‎passport, even though he was very ‎impressed by her voice. Manal said: ‘I ‎explained to him that we are Palestinians, ‎proud of our identity, and that we can’t be ‎excluded. I think that if they really wanted ‎to, they could have found a solution.’”‎